Rough itinerary July 2025
 

I'm having a lot of fun planning a trip to Norway in July 2025. I originally wanted to go in May, but my granddaughter (who I hope will come along) is planning a university course that ends in late June. Here is my preliminary idea:

Day 1. Arrive in Bergen (my husband and I from Italy, daughter and granddaughter from US)
Day 2. Norway in a Nutshell, self-guided tour, including Flåm railway and cruise on Nærøyfjord.
Day 3. Some more wandering around Bergen. Late afternoon or evening board Havila ship for Coastal voyage.
Days 4-9 Coastal voyage north to Kirkenes. Late in day, fly to Oslo.
Day 10 full day in Oslo
Day 11 head home

I had thought of taking the Havila ship only as far north as Tromsø, which would give us a full day there, and flying from there to Oslo. However, my daughter and granddaughter want to go all the way to Kirkenes. My husband doesn't want to stay away from home very long.

Here are my general questions

Is it risky to plan to fly to Oslo the same day we arrive in Kirkenes? We are scheduled to arrive at 9. There are two direct flights to Oslo, at 11:30 and 21:25. The 21:25 flight is what I would reserve, because the early one would be too early. I don't know if there is a risk that the ship would be so delayed that we would miss the later flight. On the other hand, I don't know how we would spend even twelve hours in Kirkenes, let alone spend a night there. There doesn't seem to be anything to do, other than gaze over the barbed wire into Russia.

Is there anywhere to leave luggage in Kirkenes? Maybe go to the airport and check in early for the flight, before heading to the eastern border?

I would especially like to hear from people who have done the coastal voyage with Havila. My daughter has a lot of food allergies, and I'm curious about how they try to accommodate them. They say to let them know three weeks in advance, but if it turns out they will have little or nothing she can eat, it would be too late to back out of the reservation. (I noticed on their menu that nearly everything indicated dairy products as a possible allergen, and that's one of the things she's allergic to.)
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We've changed our plans a bit, and some of my questions are no longer pertinent.

We will now spend three nights in Bergen before the voyage. There seems to be plenty to see there.

Our plan now is to fly to Copenhagen, via Oslo, after our arrival in Kirkenes. To eliminate the risk of late arrival in Kirkenes, causing us to miss our flight, we will spend a night in Kirkenes.

The Havila agent I spoke to assured me they can cope with my daughter's allergies.

I would still like to learn whether there is someplace near the port to store our luggage while we hang around beautiful downtown Kirkenes before going to our hotel.

Sounds like your plans are coming along well. Storing luggage is always the fly in the ointment, isn't it?

On a Facebook group, someone posted around six months ago that in the AMFI Shopping Mall, a small two-story mall in the middle of Kirkenes, there are storage lockers located underneath the stairwell opposite the Kitch'n store. They posted the picture below, but I have no clue as to whether or not that storage is still there.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...45ff1ddeb5.jpg
Luggage storage under stairwell in AMFI Kirkenes

I also forgot to tell you that we often have resorted to just stopping into a hotel where we are NOT staying and asking if they would hold our luggage for a fee. Half the time it works. Good luck!

Our main problem is my granddaughter's large suitcase. She'll be finishing up six months in Italy, so it's not a carry-on!

bvlenci, hope you are well, you had extensively helped me plan my trip to le marche some years ago https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...mbria-1648112/

Am following this thread with great interest, and will probably circle back with you privately, post your trip to assess your experience. We last visited Norway almost 20 years ago, on the northbound Hurtigruten. Havila didn't exist back then, but now seems a compelling choice. We are aching to return to Norway, possibly next summer.

Just one input from our last time, we also relied on the Norway in Nutshell to get from Oslo to Bergen, with luggage. Just something to consider, as that avoids backtracking and an Oslo return connection and fare might work better than open jaw into Bergen-out of Oslo.

bvlenci--Again, luggage= fly in the ointment.

I've been thinking. Do you remember in my Scandie trip report last June that I mentioned a luggage delivery company we did NOT use--PorterService--that got good recommendations from a variety of people? I'm wondering if your granddaughter would be willing to separate herself from her large suitcase when you leave Bergen and have it sent via that company to your hotel in Oslo?

We did something similar with our oldest daughter's largest suitcase right before her year in Egypt. Her monstrosity was sent onwards from Paris to Vienna while we went on to cycle for a week in Czechoslovakia and Austria. We picked it up at our hotel in Vienna.

Good luck figuring out the puzzle.
AZ

Thank you, I'll suggest this to her.

Oslo has a few wonderful sites to visit

The Norway Museum, worth 6 hours minimum down next to the Nobel Building
The Museum Island has three (+) worthwhile museums, the Thor Heyerdahl Museum 2 hours, the Viking ship museum 2 hrs (but may still be closed) and the Ship museum 1 hr+.
If useful look back at my short trip report in January for more ideas

Thanks, Bilbo, we've now decided to spend three days in Copenhagen instead of Oslo. I think it might be more fun to my granddaughter, coming off six days on a ship, where the next youngest passenger was twice (or maybe thrice?) her age. Plus I see there is now a train from Copenhagen to Lund. The last time I was in Copenhagen, we took a ferry to Lund, a beautiful city, where a good friend of mine was teaching at the university. She took us for several long car trips in Sweden.
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bvlenci--As much as I loved our time in Oslo, I adored Copenhagen too. Kudos to you for thinking of the needs of your granddaughter. I know all too well our time with ours will be way too short.
AZ